Parkour, the urban acrobatic sport, has been growing so strongly the last few years a dedicated Saskatoon gym has kids on waiting lists, eager to try out the sport. Empire Parkour is happy the sport is so successful and is currently looking to expand their gym.
Parkour is known for big jumps, impressive flips and crazy climbs. Often taking place in an urban environment, athletes jump and climb seemingly impossible obstacles in cities.
In 2019 Empire Parkour opened up its doors to offer everyone in Saskatoon a place to practice their skills in a safe, supervised place and to still train even when the city is blanketed by the winter snow.
“We have seen the gym grown to the point that we have about 300 kids, four and up, and adults passing through every week. All specifically to train parkour,” said Jordan Westad, co-owner and coach at Empire Parkour.
The current sessions have 270 students enrolled and more on waiting lists. Westad says before they can take on more students they need to expand their space.
“Everything in our gym is built out of solid wood. That makes it hard to change the setup or add to it quickly. We need to ensure all our equipment is safe and built to last,” Westad said.
The gym is an important place for Saskatoon’s parkour community.
“One of the best things about parkour is the community around it. Everyone is always there to help each other and even if you go to another city for a jam, you will have friends immediately,” said Tyler Harder, who co-owns the Empire Parkour gym.
“The sport attracts kids who don’t really fit in typical team sports, like me. Parkour offers very individual challenges and goals, but you can still train as a group and make friends that way,” Harder said.
That community aspect is also what motivates Gavin Robertson, a Saskatoon veteran parkour athlete.
“There is just something about the physical aspect of it that feels really satisfying. It feels really nice when you get to move around, try new things and string together sequences of moves.”
Robertson said safety is always the biggest concern when doing parkour.
“Everything you do has risks, but in parkour, knowing your limits, starting easy and knowing how to fall helps a lot to mitigate that. Not many people get major injuries doing parkour, precisely because we build up to bigger jumps and flips,” Robertson said.
The Empire gym offers a great place for the community to practice, but parkour is often practiced out in city landscapes.
“We teach everyone to be friendly and courteous. Not just because it is the correct thing to do, but also because we don’t want to get kicked out of places we like to train. We stick to public property for exactly that reason,” Westad explained.
According to Westad, conflicts do happen, but very infrequently.
“Often people just don’t understand what we are doing. They are afraid we are endangering ourselves or others or vandalizing property. In my experience, a polite conversation and explanation solves most of that.”
When asked how to start doing parkour, all three athletes had the same advice: “Nothing really prepares you for parkour, except parkour itself. Start with easy stuff, learn how to fall and find some friends to motivate you. Jordan started on his farm, jumping over fences and over haybales,” Harder laughed.
The parkour community organizes weekly jams to come and try out the sport with professional coaches at river landing.
Registrations for the next session of classes at Empire Parkour start at Oct. 31.
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